Some muslims say we can't completely trust Abuhuraira?

[mendacium remedium]

Salamunalaykum,

The argument is as follows:

1. Is is well Established that Abu Huraira only met Muhammed pbuh for three years of his life - and he has narrated a lot more hadiths than the other Thahaba of Muhammed pbuh who lived with him far longer - Ummar Al Khattab, Abu Bakkar, who were with the holy prophet for way longer.




2. He admits making up hadith , and people question him when he relays hadith.

Abu Hurayra said once, “The Prophet said, `The best charity is willingly given; the higher hand is better than the lower one, and start with your own dependents. A woman says: `Either feed me or divorce me.' A slave says, `Feed me and use me.' A son says, `Feed me for the woman who will forsake me.'” He was asked, “O Abu Hurayra! Did you really hear the Messenger of Allah say so?” He said, “No, this one is from Abu Hurayra's pouch.

Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 6, p. 190, in a chapter dealing with spending on the wife and children.






3. He admits hiding hadiths because his life will be in danger - perhaps the ruling parties then did not want him to reveal some of the hadiths.

“I learned the fill of two receptacles [of ahadith] from the Messenger of Allah: I have disseminated only one of them; as for the other, if I disseminate it, this throat will be slit.”

Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 1, p. 38, in a chapter dealing with learning.





So my question is: Hadiths are very important, but do we have  a right to be saying one human being is absolutely trust able despite the above?

Ahsant


EDIT: I understand there is a project to preserve only the most authentic hadiths , but surely we muslims should only consider the Quran as sahih, and hold the hadiths in high regard - but not all of them unconditionally, rather, we should examine them hadith by hadith and consider the person, the societal pressures, the nature of the words.

I.E look at this:

Volume 1, Book 5, Number 277:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, 'The (people of) Bani Israel used to take bath naked (all together) looking at each other. The Prophet Moses used to take a bath alone. They said, 'By Allah! Nothing prevents Moses from taking a bath with us except that he has a scrotal hernia.' So once Moses went out to take a bath and put his clothes over a stone and then that stone ran away with his clothes. Moses followed that stone saying, "My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O stone! till the people of Bani Israel saw him and said, 'By Allah, Moses has got no defect in his body. Moses took his clothes and began to beat the stone." Abu Huraira added, "By Allah! There are still six or seven marks present on the stone from that excessive beating."

People attacking Islam have a field day because some of our Scholars hold hadith books as totally sahih.

[Sama]

salam alaikum wa rahmatullah

I'll come back later ISA if i have time, but to begin with, here is the arabic text:

1- Explained here:
 http://ahlalbidah.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/in-defence-of-the-companion-abu-hurayrah/
http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/refuting_the_argument_regarding_abu_hurayra_narrating_too_many_hadith_
2- (2) Chapter: It is obligatory to spend for one's wife and household.http://sunnah.com/bukhari/69

 حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ أَفْضَلُ الصَّدَقَةِ مَا تَرَكَ غِنًى، وَالْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْيَدِ السُّفْلَى، وَابْدَأْ بِمَنْ تَعُولُ ‏"‏‏.‏ تَقُولُ الْمَرْأَةُ إِمَّا أَنْ تُطْعِمَنِي وَإِمَّا أَنْ تُطَلِّقَنِي‏.‏ وَيَقُولُ الْعَبْدُ أَطْعِمْنِي وَاسْتَعْمِلْنِي‏.‏ وَيَقُولُ الاِبْنُ أَطْعِمْنِي، إِلَى مَنْ تَدَعُنِي فَقَالُوا يَا أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ سَمِعْتَ هَذَا مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ قَالَ لاَ هَذَا مِنْ كِيسِ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ‏.‏

 عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ خَيْرُ الصَّدَقَةِ مَا كَانَ عَنْ ظَهْرِ غِنًى، وَابْدَأْ بِمَنْ تَعُولُ ‏"

3- http://sunnah.com/bukhari/3#62
 حَفِظْتُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وِعَاءَيْنِ، فَأَمَّا أَحَدُهُمَا فَبَثَثْتُهُ، وَأَمَّا الآخَرُ فَلَوْ بَثَثْتُهُ قُطِعَ هَذَا الْبُلْعُومُ‏

4- http://library.islamweb.net/hadith/display_hbook.php?hflag=1&bk_no=1398&pid=888393

[Black Muslim]

http://www.islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/defend_abuhurayrah.htm

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?57218-In-Defense-of-Abu-Huraira-%28Abd-al-Rahman-ibn-Sakhr-Al-Azdi%29-%28-RAA%29

[Sama]

2-
 Narrated Abu Huraira:

"The Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said, 'The best alms is that which is given when one is rich, and a giving hand is better than a taking one, and you should start first to support your dependents.' A wife says, 'You should either provide me with food or divorce me.' A slave says, 'Give me food and enjoy my service." A son says, "Give me food; to whom do you leave me?" The people said, "O Abu Huraira! Did you hear that from Allah's Messenger (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) ?" He said, "No, it is from my own self."

حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو صَالِحٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ أَفْضَلُ الصَّدَقَةِ مَا تَرَكَ غِنًى، وَالْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْيَدِ السُّفْلَى، وَابْدَأْ بِمَنْ تَعُولُ ‏"‏‏.‏ تَقُولُ الْمَرْأَةُ إِمَّا أَنْ تُطْعِمَنِي وَإِمَّا أَنْ تُطَلِّقَنِي‏.‏ وَيَقُولُ الْعَبْدُ أَطْعِمْنِي وَاسْتَعْمِلْنِي‏.‏ وَيَقُولُ الاِبْنُ أَطْعِمْنِي، إِلَى مَنْ تَدَعُنِي فَقَالُوا يَا أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ سَمِعْتَ هَذَا مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ قَالَ لاَ هَذَا مِنْ كِيسِ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ‏.‏

This hadith in itself is great proof that Abu Huraira was truthful. Because liar, would never admit his lie so easy !!

This hadith is a good example of Mudraj in ahadeth.

Mudraj

An addition by a reporter to the text of the saying being narrated is termed mudraj (interpolated). For example, al-Khatib relates via Abu Qattan and Shababah — Shu’bah — Muhammad b. Ziyad — Abu Hurairah — The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said, “Perform the ablution fully; woe to the heels from the Fire!”

Al-Khatib then remarks, “The statement, ‘Perform the ablution fully’ is made by Abu Hurairah, while the statement afterwards, ‘Woe to the heels from the Fire!’, is that of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The distinction between the two is understood from the narration of al- Bukhari, who transmits the same hadith and quotes Abu Hurairah as saying, “Complete the ablution, for Abu ‘l-Qasim (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:‘Woe to the heels from the Fire!’.”

Such an addition may be found in the beginning,in the middle, or at the end, often in explanation of a term used. Idraj (interpolation) is mostly found in the text, although a few examples show that such additions are found in the isnad as well, where the reporter grafts a part of one isnad into another.

And his these words should be refered to explanation, and not a first sentence which is a hadith. So if he intended to lie, when he was asked, he would say: Yes, those are words of prophet.

This is obvious from the second narration in the same chapter " Chapter: It is obligatory to spend for one's wife and household."
Here: http://sunnah.com/bukhari/69/6

wa Allahu Aalam

[Sama]

3- Narrated Abu Huraira:

I have memorized two kinds of knowledge from Allah's Apostle . I have propagated one of them to you and if I propagated the second, then my pharynx (throat) would be cut (i.e. killed).

[sahih Al Bukhari :: Book 1 :: Volume 3 :: Hadith 121]



Hafidh Ibn Hajar al Asqalani (rahimahu Allah) said in his book "Fath al Bari", in the explanation of this hadith:


    (The scholars took this type of knowledge, that he (Abu Hurairah) didn't transmit\spread, to mean the hadiths that show the names of the Amirs (leaders) of evil, their conditions and era/period.

    And Abu Hurairah used to point to some of it without declaration, fearing for himself from them, like his saying: I seek refuge to Allah from the head of the sixty, and the leadership of the youth , pointing to the khilafah of Yazid bin Mu'awiyyah, because it was in the year sixty after Hijrah.

    And Allah answered the duaa of Abu Hurairah, so he died a year before it...

    Ibn al Munir ( 683A.H.) said: the Batiniyyah made this hadith as a means to making their falsehood correct, in which they believed that the shari'ah has a dhahir (apparent\outer knowledge) and batin (hidden\inner\secret knowledge), and the result of that batin is dissolution of the deen.

    He said: Abu Hurairah meant by his saying: "would be cut " meaning: the people of injustice would cut his head off if they heard his criticizing\finding fault with their actions ..... , and what supports this is that the written hadiths, if they were from ahkam (rulings), he wouldn't be able to conceal it, because of what he mentioned in the first hadith of the ayah that condemns who conceals knowledge.

    and other said: it could mean things related to signs of the hour, the changing of conditions, and the fierce battles at the end of time, so then the ones who are not familiar with it would reject it...)




and al Imam Ibn Battal ( 449A.H.) -rahimahu Allah- mentioned in his sharh (explanation) of this hadith in sahih al Bukhari, that the knowledge that Abu Hurairah didn't spread was related to fitan (trials).

also a similar explanation is found by Imam adh Dhahabi rahimhu Allah in his books "as Siyar".

so basically, that knowledge that was not revealed is related to things in future, and trials (fitan), it has nothing to do with rulings in shari'ah, that are guidance to mankind which every Muslim needs to know, and is not allowed for one to conceal.



Another reason why Abu Hurairah RAA kept this information to himself was that he knew that these Fitan were going to happen inevitably. Because the Prophet ASWS said so.

Abu Huraira’s RAA narration of these Fitan was not going to make them not occur. It would have only resulted in his murder RAA.

His murder would have deprived the Ummah from benefiting from all the knowledge he had.

Wallahu A'lam.
http://salaf-stories.blogspot.com/2009/01/abu-huraira-said-if-i-propagated-second.html